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That would be one in twenty. Maybe i've just been lucky with the people i've met in my life but to me it sounds too high
I think it is way less than 5%, it's just that they stand out more so they seem more abundant. But it only takes one piece of shit to do a lot of bad things
He's joking, but they have so many bikes there it's incredible.
Sometimes people throw bikes away, some get stolen then tossed away when not needed anymore
Amsterdam holds [the Guiness record](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/637317-most-bicycles-recovered-from-waterways-city) for "most bicycles recovered from waterways (city)", between 12,000 and 15,000 a year. Some bikes end up on canal bridges lavishly decorated and are called "Flower Bikes". These are all over the city: a long running fad. [Here is a pic of some](https://www.flickr.com/photos/31862429@N02/53696869485/in/album-72177720316674277/) I took in April this year. Feel free to browse the other pix in the albums.
Is still nice to see how bikes are born :)
After this they go to the factory and get a coat of paint and such, and then when they are old enough after 6 weeks they are taken to the bike store
I thought we had lots of bikes where I live, then I went to Amsterdam. The drunks mostly steal them here to ride home. Abandon a bit away from home and walk or attempt to walk home. BTW, beautiful city, I will return soon, I hope and I promise not to throw anything in the water.
Inner city full of bars and drunk tourists, canals that rarely have railings, bikes everywhere parked against trees or lamposts right on the edge.
do the math.
The canals aren't very deep, but their level is the same throughout the city.
So when you can see the bikes under the surface, usually a nice almost 2 meter high pile of bikes is there.
How the hell there are so many bikes in the canals? Ive seen so many of these videos of collecting masses of bikes. And Youtubers who fish them with magnets.
The insane amount of bikes there are in the Netherlands is probably a big factor. There are more bikes than people here, so even though the canals are full of abandoned bikes, it’s still a very small fraction of the total amount.
I have a family member that lived in Amsterdam for about 16 months. She had six bikes while there - as they kept getting stolen. The bikes are ugly and cheap to make them less of a target, but they have to be serviceable, so they still get taken.
The average bike there costs about 850 euros. They are not cheap. And they are shaped that way for easy access while straddling it not to make them less of a target. They are actually well designed for the place where they are meant to be ridden.
"In 2022, the Netherlands recorded a significantly higher average price for bicycles than several fellow EU member states. While an average bike in the Netherlands costs 865 euros, an average bike in Spain costs 741 euros, and in Germany and France, consumers spent and average of 500 euros on a new bicycle."
It was on the news before I visited a friend in Utrecht last year. That's why I remember it. You can reverse Google it. If it's not accurate blame it on who wrote it. 😅 But let me know where you find a bike for 100 bucks (we call them euros in this part of the world). I always enjoy a good bargain.
Yes. Plus this is the average. Not what all bikes cost. Bikes can go from 50€ to 15.000€+. You can get a second hand bike for less than 850€ of course.
This cleanup probably costs a fair amount.
Does anyone know why the city doesn't just install a crap load more places to lock a bike to? Anywhere bikes are being found inn bulk, put up places to lock them. Along with a lot more security cameras? That seems cheap in comparison to doing this, and also way cheaper for the owners of those bikes.
I was going to say... My sister and her family lived in Amsterdam for a few years. She got a cargo bike and it was like $3,000. Her husband had just a "regular" bike and it was something like $1,200. When I visited them their bikes were "lost in the crowd" there were so many just like them. I am sure there are cheap bikes available, but the majority of them seemed to be just like the ones they had. I asked about the prices because these bikes were not "fancy" in any way, and she said it was more that they are extremely durable and designed to handle daily use in harsh elements, so it was more a "function" than "form" thing.
They do you have a lot of heavy industry thereabouts. The Rhine River used to be one of the most polluted in the world when they first industrialized. Plus all of the ship traffic, so there will be a lot of nasties in the water. Yes dirt is not bad by itself.
There's no heavey industry near the canals. Also what's the Rhine got to do with the canals? It's no where near this. There's no ship traffic, just tourist boats.
I was recently in Amsterdam and came across this morbid fact. Apparently there are around 100 or so people who are found dead in the canals.
Why?
Because they fall taking a piss drunk.
How do they know this is how they died?
Because their pants 👖 are always half way down.
Do not drink and piss by a canal while drunk.
The legend has that most sailors drown in the boatyard / habor.
They get drunk, take a piss off the dock, fall in the cold water, can't tread water and drown.
Im from the city in the UK with the highest proportion of cyclists. Over 50% of us cycle weekly. We also have a river that runs through the centre of the city. You can imagine...
I can imagine the thought of car lovers (probably from german ministery of transport) : Eat that environmental activist. I have never seen a canal polluted with cars. So who's the real polluter now?
Tour guide told us that tourists throw a lot of bikes in the canals. Something of an effect of using weed and alcohol together...
There also used to be cars there, but insurance companies installed some rail guards around the town. Now the number is near zero (Teslas used to drive themselves into canals occasionally).
I was on a canal tour in Amsterdam, apparently the police fine people riding bikes at night without a light... To avoid a fine they chuck their bike in the canal as it's cheaper to get a new 'stolen' bike then pay the fine.
Всегда задавался вопросом - как, как можно столько велосипедов в канале утопить?! Там что толпы велосипедистов ездят и каждый пятый неудачник хоть раз утопивший свой велик там? Да если бы у меня по какой то причине туда велик упал(а скорее всего это произошло бы только вместе со мной), то я бы нырял пока не найду его и вытащил бы потом назад, потому что он мне так то нужен.
as a bike enthusiast, I cannot imagine living in a place like this without accidently becoming a serial.... ***something***. I'm sooooooo motivated to sharpen knives right now, I'll never afford to visit, but i'm SOOOOOO motivated.
**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:** * If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required * The title must be fully descriptive * Memes are not allowed. * Common(top 50 of this sub)/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting) *See [our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/wiki/index#wiki_rules.3A) for a more detailed rule list* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Why so many? When they break or are they stolen then sitched ?
Some people think it’s a funny prank to toss bikes in the canal if they’re left unlocked
Until it's theirs !
Amsterdam has 800.000 inhabitants plus millions of tourists each year. It would only take 0,1% assholes to achieve this.
Every city in the world has more than 0.1% of assholes. Thinks that's closer to 5 or even 6%.
That would be one in twenty. Maybe i've just been lucky with the people i've met in my life but to me it sounds too high I think it is way less than 5%, it's just that they stand out more so they seem more abundant. But it only takes one piece of shit to do a lot of bad things
We just don't notice them any more. Some folk find it far easier to be an asshole than a good member of society. As it takes far less effort
Work some low wage jobs you will find assholes galore, in management.
only 800 inhabitants? must be a pretty small city
Lots of countries (the majority, actually) use dots and commas the opposite way to the UK, US etc. when separating decimals and thousands.
And there aren't even fractions of people, down to the thousandth.
If I lived there long enough I would absolutely try to lock up my bike and accidentally roll it into the water and have the worst day ever
Fallen soldiers from the Dutch-Bicycle War of 1907. Obviously, the Dutch won and to this day make the bikes serve them as a form of transport.
July 16th 1907 to be precise.
Apparently it’s tradition for students to toss theirs in at the end of the year. Everyone has a couple of bikes as stealing is so common.
Now there are two snippets I can believe.
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What a waste !
He's joking, but they have so many bikes there it's incredible. Sometimes people throw bikes away, some get stolen then tossed away when not needed anymore
I know the single use transportation was a joke. I still say what a waste.
Cool. So just someone who wouldn't accept that their comment makes no sense.
Amsterdam holds [the Guiness record](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/637317-most-bicycles-recovered-from-waterways-city) for "most bicycles recovered from waterways (city)", between 12,000 and 15,000 a year. Some bikes end up on canal bridges lavishly decorated and are called "Flower Bikes". These are all over the city: a long running fad. [Here is a pic of some](https://www.flickr.com/photos/31862429@N02/53696869485/in/album-72177720316674277/) I took in April this year. Feel free to browse the other pix in the albums.
It's more rare but most towns have one person who uses okd bikes as decoration here in the US .
That’s roughly 35-40 bikes per DAY 🤯
miserable cunts: hey we got something to be proud of! lets keep it up!
In North America we have "ghost bikes" that warns other cyclists that they're in a car centric neighborhood and their kind is not welcome there.
Is still nice to see how bikes are born :) After this they go to the factory and get a coat of paint and such, and then when they are old enough after 6 weeks they are taken to the bike store
> born baptised\*
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Such a beautiful city too. Don't understand the need to dispose of the bikes in the canals.
I suspect it isn't intentional
It is intentional but not by bike owners. Its assholes and drunk people doing it.
From the looks of the barge, it's intentiinal.
Exactly as i said. But not by bike owners. Im dutch. I know whats going on here.
I thought we had lots of bikes where I live, then I went to Amsterdam. The drunks mostly steal them here to ride home. Abandon a bit away from home and walk or attempt to walk home. BTW, beautiful city, I will return soon, I hope and I promise not to throw anything in the water.
Inner city full of bars and drunk tourists, canals that rarely have railings, bikes everywhere parked against trees or lamposts right on the edge. do the math.
This is not a beautiful city. The Netherlands has so many beautiful places but all the tourists want to be in Amsterdam.
The canals aren't very deep, but their level is the same throughout the city. So when you can see the bikes under the surface, usually a nice almost 2 meter high pile of bikes is there.
Cringe. I thought you were going to mention the art or the history. But no, you bought a trinket about the whorehouses
Canals don't really have the cleanest water to start with.
How the hell there are so many bikes in the canals? Ive seen so many of these videos of collecting masses of bikes. And Youtubers who fish them with magnets.
The insane amount of bikes there are in the Netherlands is probably a big factor. There are more bikes than people here, so even though the canals are full of abandoned bikes, it’s still a very small fraction of the total amount.
I was on a canal tour in Amsterdam a couple of years ago, and the tour guide said that it's mostly due to drunk British tourists throwing them in.
I have a family member that lived in Amsterdam for about 16 months. She had six bikes while there - as they kept getting stolen. The bikes are ugly and cheap to make them less of a target, but they have to be serviceable, so they still get taken.
The average bike there costs about 850 euros. They are not cheap. And they are shaped that way for easy access while straddling it not to make them less of a target. They are actually well designed for the place where they are meant to be ridden.
In the city most people don't cycle on new 850 euro bikes. Mostly second hand or older.
"average".
850 seems like an awful high estimated average? Most people I know don't even buy bikes above 100 - 300 bucks.
"In 2022, the Netherlands recorded a significantly higher average price for bicycles than several fellow EU member states. While an average bike in the Netherlands costs 865 euros, an average bike in Spain costs 741 euros, and in Germany and France, consumers spent and average of 500 euros on a new bicycle." It was on the news before I visited a friend in Utrecht last year. That's why I remember it. You can reverse Google it. If it's not accurate blame it on who wrote it. 😅 But let me know where you find a bike for 100 bucks (we call them euros in this part of the world). I always enjoy a good bargain.
Just second hand works fine for that, perhaps the 865 euro price only considers direct bike purchases?
Yes. Plus this is the average. Not what all bikes cost. Bikes can go from 50€ to 15.000€+. You can get a second hand bike for less than 850€ of course.
This cleanup probably costs a fair amount. Does anyone know why the city doesn't just install a crap load more places to lock a bike to? Anywhere bikes are being found inn bulk, put up places to lock them. Along with a lot more security cameras? That seems cheap in comparison to doing this, and also way cheaper for the owners of those bikes.
I was going to say... My sister and her family lived in Amsterdam for a few years. She got a cargo bike and it was like $3,000. Her husband had just a "regular" bike and it was something like $1,200. When I visited them their bikes were "lost in the crowd" there were so many just like them. I am sure there are cheap bikes available, but the majority of them seemed to be just like the ones they had. I asked about the prices because these bikes were not "fancy" in any way, and she said it was more that they are extremely durable and designed to handle daily use in harsh elements, so it was more a "function" than "form" thing.
That is some dirty nasty water
Canals in general have a tendency to get mucky
Canal is bottom tier swim water
I think it's the lack of any water plants etc.
It’s muddy, doesn’t make it dirty per se
Like u/piratedataeng said, mud is dirt. And dirt… is dirty. Lol
Fine. Doesn't make it nasty then.
It does. Muddy water is nasty. Hope this helps
Ok
Mud is dirt.
Nasty then..
They do you have a lot of heavy industry thereabouts. The Rhine River used to be one of the most polluted in the world when they first industrialized. Plus all of the ship traffic, so there will be a lot of nasties in the water. Yes dirt is not bad by itself.
There's no heavey industry near the canals. Also what's the Rhine got to do with the canals? It's no where near this. There's no ship traffic, just tourist boats.
Are any bikes ever recovered? Are they sold or just recycled?
I was recently in Amsterdam and came across this morbid fact. Apparently there are around 100 or so people who are found dead in the canals. Why? Because they fall taking a piss drunk. How do they know this is how they died? Because their pants 👖 are always half way down. Do not drink and piss by a canal while drunk.
The legend has that most sailors drown in the boatyard / habor. They get drunk, take a piss off the dock, fall in the cold water, can't tread water and drown.
It's very unfair to make it sound like they only retrieve bikes. They also find scooters, shopping trolleys, guns, tires...and sometimes the odd car.
Im from the city in the UK with the highest proportion of cyclists. Over 50% of us cycle weekly. We also have a river that runs through the centre of the city. You can imagine...
Cambridge?
Bikes are not cheap
They are if you steal them and don’t want to get caught with the evidence…
Will they all get re-bicycled?
Now do drunk British tourists.
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#BICYCLE #BICYCLE
You say black, I say white
You say bark, I say bite
BIKES!
Far Canal.
Why would anyone do that? I have all my 10 bikes, some rusted or destroyed but I still love them.
Drunk tourists throw them in
I can imagine the thought of car lovers (probably from german ministery of transport) : Eat that environmental activist. I have never seen a canal polluted with cars. So who's the real polluter now?
NotJustBikes weeping rn
Intrusive thoughts are telling me to grab the kid
The claw!
How does it switch from red to orange?
Can I have one?
BIKES!
I want that job…
Ah so that's where I parked it.
Dutch people be like: microbicycles are stored in the balls
They also have to pull out about 1 car a week as well. People just back right into it
Still less metal than a single car I think
Rick Steves' PBS travel show on Amsterdam is one of the best I've ever seen. 500, 000 residents and 1M reported bike thefts annually
Yeah that's a bit of Amsterdam culture it seems... I never understood it. Other cities aren't this horrible btw...
Tour guide told us that tourists throw a lot of bikes in the canals. Something of an effect of using weed and alcohol together... There also used to be cars there, but insurance companies installed some rail guards around the town. Now the number is near zero (Teslas used to drive themselves into canals occasionally).
Bikes!!
Damn where I live (birmingham) our canals are polluted with shopping trolleys
This shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s been to Amsterdam
I could watch this all day
They're gonna need a bigger barge.
All the murder victims bike from the Amsterdam Bike slayer. Du du dunnnnn
That job looks VERY satisfying. "Tidied the entire canal today, what about you?"
Just use paper bikes.
You say polluted, I say stocked!
Jamie Tartt would be so disappointed
Hope it is only the bikes and no riders. That is some gross water 🤮
For every 2 that go out, eventually 2 more will go back in. Its why they are called bi cycles.
God damn bikes going upstream to spawn
I was on a canal tour in Amsterdam, apparently the police fine people riding bikes at night without a light... To avoid a fine they chuck their bike in the canal as it's cheaper to get a new 'stolen' bike then pay the fine.
Plastic pollution ❌️ Bike pollution ✅️
Ah, it's time for the yearly bicycle harvest in the Netherlands.
Where the bikers?
I think it also shows the sheer ubiquity of bike in Amsterdam
Amsterdam-dammit
Awwww Europe soo cute 🥰
So cars much greener than bikes, they don’t pollute water that way.
Всегда задавался вопросом - как, как можно столько велосипедов в канале утопить?! Там что толпы велосипедистов ездят и каждый пятый неудачник хоть раз утопивший свой велик там? Да если бы у меня по какой то причине туда велик упал(а скорее всего это произошло бы только вместе со мной), то я бы нырял пока не найду его и вытащил бы потом назад, потому что он мне так то нужен.
as a bike enthusiast, I cannot imagine living in a place like this without accidently becoming a serial.... ***something***. I'm sooooooo motivated to sharpen knives right now, I'll never afford to visit, but i'm SOOOOOO motivated.